Ready, ready, ready, ready to ruu-uh-uh-un.

I love the fourth of July. I do not, however, love sitting in traffic after fireworks for 32 minutes without moving an inch. True story, unfortunately. I'd much prefer a less than front row seat and a clean getaway.

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I am forcing my self to give running a try. I've always hated it. Mentally tallying each inch I ran- okay, fine- each tenth of a mile I ran until I could stop. Yesterday, however, I ran 3 miles without stopping. I'm getting there. Baby steps. I love the challenge of a new exercise and conditioning your body to conquer it. Thank you body, for what you do for me.

Oh! And I didn't tell you. See, I'm not an outdoorsy person. I've mentioned that before. I'm getting a little better, though. When I was running- well. Jogging. I was jogging and almost home. It was suddenly extremely urgent to stop and get my cell out of the stroller to check the time. (A watch? What's that?) I like to see how fast. slow. fast I go. And it couldn't wait any longer, apparently. Anywho. I was glad I did. Because a Coyote went blazing across the road right in front of me. I watched it to make sure it wasn't coming back to eat me and then took off like a shot. I did that last part of the run in record time. It's called motivation.

Shudder. I don't love (wild) animals. I don't hate them, either. I just don't love them. But I do know that the big ones are out to get me. I can tell. They look at me and think that they'd like to chew on my legs. I just know it. So that's another thing about running in the country. I'm like a dinner plate cruising down the dirt road. It isn't a comforting thought. Oh, yes. I research what kind of creatures live in my area. I like to see what I am up against. Living here is a lot safer than New Mexico, though. Think: rattlesnakes, black widows, scorpions, coyotes, mountain lions, bears, ugh. Maybe not wandering the streets waiting for runners, especially since I lived in town. But I feel more comfortable living here, where the insects are much tamer. I'm not naive- according to the Internet, there could be cougars around here. And. In the paper last week, it said somebody spotted a black bear. So. There's that. If I move to a riskier area, I'm getting the biggest dog you ever did see. He'll even scare away Woolly Mammoths. I've heard they live in certain areas. ;)

But, like I said, I prefer clean getaways.

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Halfway done with the Jam-athon. Just waiting on Raspberries. YUM.

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The HH and I are having a contest. I'm looking to lose those last few baby pounds (WHAT? MY BABY IS ONLY ONE AND A HALF!!) and apparently he thinks his six pack isn't six enough, so he's sculpting that. It goes until the end of August. I really want to eat some chips. But I am resisting. Because as Izzy put it so sweetly when she was sitting on my lap last week, "Mom! You are so comfy!" Thank you, my little motivator. Thank you. It did occur to me that maybe that's why we gain weight when we are prego. It makes us comfier for when we snuggle with our babies. Ahhh, that's actually kind of sweet. Sweet. Chocolate. Now I want a candy bar.